Asia enters new era in digital audio service

A group of Indonesian journalists were invited by WorldSpace Corp. to witness the live broadcast in Singapore recently of the launch of its digital satellite in Kourou, French Guiana. The following is a report from The Jakarta Post's Hyginus Hardoyo.

SINGAPORE (JP): Asia is entering a new era in digital audio service due to the successful launch of the AsiaStar satellite owned by U.S.-based WorldSpace Corp.

The US$250 million satellite, which was launched aboard an Arianespace Ariane-5 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana, is capable of providing a totally new medium -- digital broadcast of audio programs directly from satellites to compact, portable receivers, Michael Whitener, the managing director of WorldSpace Asia, said.

Speaking at a news conference in Singapore on March 22 after witnessing the live broadcast of the satellite launch, Whitener said the satellite system would be able to serve remote areas that are unreachable by existing technology.

"The AsiaStar will cover most of Asia, including China, India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand," he said.

The satellite is providing more than 50 channels of crystal clear digital audio programming transmitted directly into portable receivers containing small built-in 10-centimeter (four- inch) dish antennas, he added.

Whitener said commercial operation of AsiaStar, which would reach its final geostationary orbital position in early April, was expected to start by June.

The content providers of AsiaStar consist of international broadcasters, including Bloomberg, British Broadcasting Corp., Cable News Network and World Radio Network, Whitener said, adding that negotiations with other regional broadcasters were being worked out.

Endy Sabaruddin, the managing director of WorldSpace Indonesia, told The Jakarta Post that several Indonesian broadcasters, including state-owned radio broadcasting company RRI, PT Mediacitra Indostar and Masima Corporation, had expressed interest in leasing satellite space to help broaden the coverage of their digital audio service.

The service will grow steadily in Indonesia as the technology was suitable for people living in remote areas, especially those working at mining, logging or offshore drilling sites, he said.

"It is also suitable for fishermen as they can just put antennas of the transportable receivers out on their boats to catch the satellite's signals," he said.

The receivers can be used indoors or outdoors, but the antennas must have a clear view of the sky and be aimed in the direction of the satellite, he said.

Endy explained that a receiver requires about the same amount of power as a conventional radio and it may be powered by AC current or batteries.

In remote areas where electricity is not available, the radio's energy consumption can be powered by a solar panel, he said.

The receivers are manufactured by four Japanese companies -- JVC Corp., Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd., Matsushita Electric and Hitachi Ltd. -- and are priced between $250 and $400, Endy said.

When the system is fully operational, it is expected to open up a market with an abundant amount of potential. The prices are expected to steadily decline in line with economies of scale and further technological advancements.

Endy expressed confidence that he would be able to sell about 150,000 receivers in the first year from the start of the satellite commercial operation.

Besides the population living in remote areas, the high target was also expected from a large number of Indonesian workers overseas, mainly the Middle East, who long for any news, music or entertainment broadcasts from their country of origin.

Patrianto Godam, president of Masima Corporation, said that utilizing the technology would expand the local broadcasters' coverage to not only the national, but also the international level as well.

A broadcaster that was previously limited to a terrestrial area is billed to be able to now reach 14 million square kilometers of area by delivering its signal via satellite.

Worldspace digital satellite system uses the 1467-1492 MHz segment of the "L-band" spectrum, which was allocated for digital audio broadcasting at the World Administrative Radiocommunication Conference in 1992.

"Our company is in the process of negotiating to lease part of the slots of the satellite," said the executive whose company manages several local broadcasters, including Prambors and Female Radio.

The problem is that big cities in Indonesia already have a wide selection of radio channels, which can be monitored by conventional radios that are a much cheaper price.

However, WorldSpace, which was founded in 1990, assured that it was not competing with terrestrial radio, but was instead enhancing it.

Headquartered in Washington, WorldSpace is now also working on technology that will allow the satellite to provide multimedia programming.

"What we are working on currently is a personal computer (PC) card that will fit directly into a computer and be able to directly receive multimedia service, with content ranging from financial news, health information to weather reports," Whitener said.

He said at present an adapter was needed between a receiver and PC to receive satellite transmissions.

WorldSpace has one other satellite -- the AfriStar -- which covers Africa and the Middle East and has been in operation since October last year. They will launch another for the Latin American region in the first half of 2001.

AfriStar has had over 30 content providers with programming available in various languages, ranging from English, French, Arabic, Swahili to Spanish.

When the system is fully operational, the three satellites are expected to provide service to a potential audience of more than 4 billion people, including Asians.

With such a service people in developing regions (Asia, Africa and Latin America), who mostly have limited access to information, can have more alternatives to choose news, education or entertainment programs that will enrich their lives, the firm claimed.